Blog

Why This Sifter Matters: “Not Relying on Statements Outside the Contract”

LegalSifter Review uses algorithms to review draft contracts to see whether provisions addressing specific contract issues are present or missing. We call our algorithms “Sifters.” In this post, the spotlight is on the Sifter Not Relying on Statements Outside the Contract. This Sifter helps alert sellers to language it would be prudent to include in a contract to reduce the … Read More

Four New Series of Masterclass

I’ve just added four new series of Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass to take us through the end of the year. Here are the five series now available: Starting Tuesday, 13 July 2021, at 8:00 am ET (US) Starting Thursday, 5 August 2021, at 11:00 am ET (US) Starting Wednesday, 8 September 2021, at 11:00 am ET (US) Starting Tuesday, 5 … Read More

Including Federal Law in Governing-Law Provisions

I received this cry for help from Canada: I would very much appreciate your help in addressing a bit of nonsense peculiar to Canadian contracts. Like the US, Canada is a federal jurisdiction. Like the US, contract law is a matter of Provincial (or State) jurisdiction. A practice has developed in the choice of law clause in Canadian contracts, which … Read More

“Contracting Center of Excellence”?

I was tempted to do an in-depth post about this EY survey, entitled The General Counsel Imperative: How Does Contracting Complexity Hide Clear Profitability? But the more I looked at it, the less I had to say about it. But this random tidbit grabbed my attention: Establish a contracting center of excellence (CoE). A dedicated team set up in a … Read More

Making a Test Part of “Masterclass”? For Companies, Sure, But Probably Not for the Public Version of the Course

In this blog post I display the digital badge I’m implementing for my course Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass. I explain that the digital credentials aren’t intended to indicate a level of competence. Instead, they’re intended to start a conversation. The course already includes quizzes; the issue under discussion now is whether to add to self-assessment the kind of assessment that … Read More

Document Assembly Is Easy, Contracts Are Hard

The image above is one of 12 panels from this tweet by Jordan Furlong containing his graphic entitled “Types of Future of Law Paper.” It’s a riff on this xkcd webcomic entitled “Types of Scientific Paper.” Document Assembly Has Underperformed Obviously, for that one panel to work, it has to be grounded in reality. Document assembly is a straightforward technology … Read More

Rebranding: New PowerPoint

Above is a sample cover slide from my new PowerPoint deck. At the bottom of this post is the cover slide I’ve been using for years, so yes, the new design is a big upgrade. The photo in the cover slide is customizable, so I contemplate changing it for different clients and different kinds of presentations. By itself, a new … Read More

Rebranding: Digital Credentials

I’ve decided to offer digital credentials—a certificate and a badge—to participants in my course Drafting Clearer Contracts: Masterclass. You’ll be able to click on the certificate to confirm that it’s authentic and get details of the course. And you’ll be able to upload the clickable badge on LinkedIn and elsewhere. The digital badge is in the image above; it was … Read More